Samik Pharmaceutical (014950.KQ) shares surged after the company said it had registered a patent for a long-acting formulation technology that would allow the immune-modulating peptide thymosin alpha 1 to be administered about once a month.
As of 3:23 p.m. on the 14th, Samik Pharmaceutical was trading at 9,190 won on the KOSDAQ market, up 1,280 won, or 16.18%, from the previous session.
Analysts attributed the gain to expectations for the long-acting injection technology. Samik Pharmaceutical completed domestic patent registration on Aug. 27 for "long-acting microspheres containing thymosin alpha 1, compositions including the same, and a method for preparing them."
At the core of the patent is a formulation technology that can sharply reduce how often thymosin alpha 1 must be given. Thymosin alpha 1 is a peptide that regulates immune responses by activating T cells, but it dissolves readily in water and breaks down quickly in the body. Existing aqueous formulations therefore required repeated dosing, with subcutaneous injections needed at least twice a week.
Samik Pharmaceutical enclosed the drug in biodegradable polymer microspheres so that it is released slowly in the body. Microspheres are biodegradable polymer particles smaller than the thickness of a human hair. When a drug is trapped inside the microspheres, the company said, it can seep out little by little as the particles gradually break down in the body, cutting the number of injections while sustaining the drug's effect over a set period. On that basis, the company said it had secured the potential to develop a long-acting injection that can be administered about once a month.
The patent does not mean a once-a-month product is ready for the market, however. Developing it into an actual drug would require further preclinical and clinical trials as well as regulatory approval.
